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Monthly Archives: September 2009

Minus one decade, each year of my life has revved up in September and slowed down markedly by the end of June. Yes, I have been either a student or a teacher for the majority of my life. Packing 12 months of energy into 10 months each year ended for me when I finished grad school and became a dietitian. But now that I’ve finally settled into a 12 month rhythm, I’m starting school all over again. No, I’m not getting another master’s or pursuing a Ph.D. Dalia just started kindergarten. Every time I see her proudly carrying her brand new Hello Kitty lunchbox, put on her new shoes, and run to the playground to go across the monkey bars, it takes me back to when I was a student. It was always so exciting to delve into the newness of it all each September. Now I’m getting ready for the first show and tell, reliving the first field trip, and meeting the first class pet all over again. As a self-proclaimed nerd, I’m almost as excited as Dalia to be back in school. I’m just counting myself lucky that my P.E. is yoga now instead of dodge ball.

I am not a vegetarian. My partner is though… which basically makes me a vegetarian.

However, my partner is not one of those vegetarians that does not like meat. She’s an ethical vegetarian; which means while she doesn’t agree with how the food reaches the plate, she sure likes the taste of some of it. Which is how why we came to discover the taste sensation that is Trader Joe’s Sausageless Sausage!

Now, without wanting to sound like a commercial, this product is seriously great. Coming from England, I have high standards when it comes to bangers. Previous to our discovery we had tried various other brands of veggie sausage; most of which, at least to me, tasted like rubbish. However, with the sausageless sausage, they have nailed the texture and flavors.

It does not taste exactly like it’s pork cousin, as fake meat never does, but the ingredients they use give it a warm and herby feeling; not unlike the stuffing you eat at Christmas time. What’s more, the reduced cooking time and firmer consistency make it super versatile. We eat it for breakfast and in pasta, stir-frys, salads and sandwiches.

In terms of it’s nutritional value, it’s not bad either. It has a fairly high sodium content (which no doubt explains why it tastes so good) and contains some saturated fats, but being made from soy it is full of protein and even has some fiber.

So if you’re a vegetarian, vegan or even a meat eater looking for a healthier option, I would recommend you give these little links of love a try… and thank me later!

Last week one of our dedicated yoga students sent and email regarding the NOURISH Core Values that are listed on our website. Here is the text of that email:

“Dear Nourish Staff,

Thank you for the confirmation for my appointment with Jocelyn. Today I had the pleasure of having time to read all of Nourish’s information. It is great.

I would like to add a Core Value that I believe is missing, having been devoted to the Om/Nourish family now for years. That is the value of LISTENING. I would like to see the core value “WE LISTEN to and embrace suggestions, questions, concerns and joys of our clients, members, students, and customers.” As I read the list, I missed that important element [of the Dubin family(well, Dalia is still in training)(smile)].

Though I have not had many classes with Kate and Roxanne, I have found them, as well, always willing to listen to any question, or happy to share some tidbit of life experience I or anyone after class had to share with them. They listen. I also find both of those ladies so open and willing to share their lives with us, supporting and giving a foundation for a family of professionals who truly care about nourishing the health of anyone who is willing to give even the smallest amount of their time toward bettering their lives and walking through the doors of NOURISH. Thus, both Kate and Roxanne seem to me to be in concert with Victor and Jocelyn in the Core Value of Listening.

In our cultural climate, in our political atmosphere, in a world where the importance of individualism sometimes erodes, or shades the importance of social values, compassion and the development of camaraderie, listening is a skill often missed, yet yearned for. Victor and Jocelyn Dubin have always listened well to me, my friends and family. I have over the years, observed them continually take an interest in participants’ needs through active listening, a quality that is essential to NOURISH anyone’s mind, body and spirit.

Thank you, Namaste, and Aloha,

Kulani Kamaha’o

Devoted to Nourish”

Thanks Kulani. We are listening and you can expect the addition to our core values page soon.

Let me introduce myself — With a lifetime of experience (I started massaging around 2nd grade, giving my teacher neck and shoulder massages on rainy day recess), over 1000 hours of formal education, and nearly 8 years with a professional background; I can no longer call myself just a massage therapist. Trained in over 16 modalities, I am known to utilize massage, energy and breath work, and guided meditation in any of my sessions. I specialize in pain relief, injury recovery, stress reduction, emotional transformation, and relaxation. My interest is finding the deep seeded root of any issue within the body, the intention I bring is to HELP create sustainable results in every one of my clients. Here at NOURISH I consider myself a “Healing Facilitator,” I choose the term facilitator because I merely assist in the process of healing. It is up to each individual client to bring one’s self to the state of well-being.

More often than not, the common reason I hear people use to NOT have a massage is because they don’t have the time, money, or need to “pamper themselves” or “indulge in frivolous things”. I’m hear to tell EVERYONE…yes that means you too, please listen up…

Massage is much more than a simple luxury to be had when you have the time or enough extra cash laying around. It is an ideal way to keep your body/mind vehicle rejuvenated and nourished, which is helps with your overall well-being and maintaining a body free of dis-ease. The physical and emotional health benefits list is long and very detailed, but because it feels SOOOOOOO good, too many people don’t realize or even discredit the actual effects it has on the individual – body, mind, and spirit.

So I have decided to dedicate a blog series to the holistic health advantages of massage therapy…stay tuned to learn more!!!

I read a theory once that suggested the main reason for watching sport, be it soccer, the Olympics or surfing on Steamers Lane, was the desire to see humans go beyond what we think is physically possible. The writer argued that the best moments in sport were the days when you saw an athlete go beyond good and move into greatness.

Well, I know that yoga is not a sport and that the majority of us practice the activity for helping and healing oneself… but I read a story the other day about an Indian man who certainly seems to have made the move from good to greatness.

On June 14th 2009, Mr C Poovendran set the world record for longest yoga marathon when he performed yoga for an incredible 28 hours!

While attempting the world record, Mr Poovendran performed 1019 asanas and also sought to entertain the spectators by drinking water and taking off his t-shirt… while performing a headstand… with his eyes closed!

Now admittedly on first read this story seems a little shallow. The breaking of world records is something that tends to take up the last five minutes of local news broadcasts and this seemed no different. However, when I learned a little more about his life, I began to think about it a lot more.

Mr C Poovendran is currently a yoga teacher who works in Hong Kong. He started his yoga training with his father at just five years old. By the time he was 14 he gained his first yoga award – the yogaraj… or King of Yoga. He has also gained the Best Demonstrator Award at the 5th International Yoga festival, the Yoga Rathna award (jewel of yoga) from the Divine Life society of Chennai, India, and the Creative/Innovation Award in 2006 from Pure Yoga International.

So clearly, Mr Poovendran is not someone looking to have his five minutes of fame by breaking a world record. This is his passion. To take something you love and push it to the very limit must have been very hard. I would imagine that practicing yoga for 28 consecutive hours has a fairly negative affect on your physical and emotional state (so don’t worry, we won’t be extending our class times here at NOURISH). I think I would be afraid that the effort alone would scare me off from every wanting to do a tree pose again. But for Mr Poovendran yoga is clearly more than an activity – it is his life’s work and his commitment to it is something I cannot help but be inspired by.